"Those with talent who naturalise today can easily leave the country of adoption for greener pasture tomorrow; it is what these developed countries do to keep them there that really matters.

Between the hard-working stateless man who has spent much of his life toiling on Malaysian soil and the corrupt politician who continues to squander our national wealth, it does not take a genius to distinguish who is the real patriot." By Josh Hong in Malaysiakini

VISITORS

South Africa accuses Israel Navy of killing hundreds of Palestinian boat people from Gaza

WARNING: Readers must read the lower part of this news/article to understand the truth. Those reading the upper part only and failed to continue could be mislead or miss the real message.

Cape town, South Africa(AFP) — South Africa said Sunday that hundreds of people were missing at sea, believed to be part of a wave of Palestinian boat people from Gaza were allegedly dragged out to the middle of the ocean by Israel Navy and left to die.
Israel has denied the accusations, but accounts of survivors and the latest reports from the South Africa coast guard have piled the pressure on Tel-Avid, and the Israel government said it would meet rights groups on Monday.

The Israel navy is accused of detaining the migrants, Palestinian boat people from Gaza, after they washed up on the Israel coast — and then towing them to sea and leaving them to their fate.

South Africa’s coast guard said Sunday it had rescued hundreds of the refugees from the Palestinian, Gaza, but that hundreds more were feared lost.

“These are really serious allegations that need to be investigated by the UN and the Israel government,” he said…………………

Burma’s state-run newspapers rejected the use of the term “political prisoners” to describe imprisoned dissidents, saying in a series of articles published ahead of
Thursday’s commemoration of the United Nations’ Declaration on Prisoners of Conscience that detained activists were actually guilty of criminal offenses.

Jul 9, 2008 (DVB)–Blogger Nay Phone Latt appeared before Insein prison court for the first time yesterday where he heard three charges against him, including causing public alarm, his mother told DVB.

Daw Aye Than said her son was charged under section 32(b) of the Video Act, section 36 of an unspecified law regulating electronic devices and section 505(b) of the penal code, which forbids the distribution of material likely to cause public alarm or incite offences against the public tranquility.

Under the watchful eye of the regime’s security services, Zimbabweans Friday voted in a single-candidate presidential “runoff” that will almost certainly extend Robert Mugabe’s rule until 2014. Despite reports of a low turnout, the decision by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to withdraw last Sunday makes Mugabe’s victory inevitable. In Zimbabwe, presidential terms last six years, so by the time he faces reelection again, Mugabe will be 90 and will have ruled his country for 34 years. Nevertheless, expectations are that after six more years of hyper-inflation, mass unemployment and brutal repression, the President will be in better shape than his country.

The Burmese opposition group, the National League for Democracy (NLD), was challenged by the military government on Sunday to form a political party to contest the 2010 national election and to forget the results of the “illegal” 1990 election.

An article, “Goodbye 1990 Election Results,” published in the state-backed New Light of Myanmar, said the landslide victory of the NLD in the 1990 general election is now “illegal,” because it “has been ditched by the entire people [sic] who are desirous of the emergence of a new, modern-developed democratic nation.”

It is sad that the outcome of the African leaders’ summit reflected anything but condemnation and shame on Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe.

Some African countries are ready to defend Mugabe, who rigged and stole the country’s general election held last week. It is amazing how some African leaders have the face to back a leader who suppresses his people and intimidates the opposition with violence, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries. Last month, former South African president Nelson Mandela criticised Mugabe for his tragic failure of leadership. His comment should have paved the way for other leaders to take up similar positions. Unfortunately, not many African leaders can claim similar status to Mandela. Many are dictators who do not respect human rights and democratic values. Worse, they do not want to be labelled as allies of the West against Mugabe, who was also considered an African hero when he fought for independence of the former Rhodesia.

(BANGKOK, Thailand) — The cyclone that devastated Burma’s heartland has also roiled a political landscape dominated by the military for more than four decades.

Buddhist monks are regrouping after the battering they took nine months ago, civil society groups are emerging and foreign aid workers — often agents of political change in the wake of humanitarian crises — are present in unprecedented numbers. The junta’s grip on power remains absolute. But anger against the regime has probably never run so high.